Strengthening Capacity of Higher Engineering Education for Sustainable Buildings (HEESeB)
Project manager overall project: Tshewang Lhendup, Royal University of Bhutan
Project leader University of Innsbruck: Wolfgang Streicher
Projektmitarbeiter: Martin Hauer, Anton Kraler (AB Holzbau, UIBK), Suzanne Kapelari (Dean of Faculty of Teacher Education)
- Jigme Namgyel Engineering College, Royal University of Bhutan
- University of Innsbruck
Funding agency: Austrian Development Cooperation (OEAD)
Funding program: Austrian Partnership Programme in Higher Education and Research for Development (APPEAR, https://appear.at/en/)
Total funding: 269.082 Euro (UIBK: 122.463 Euro)
Project period: 01/01/2024 - 31/12/2027
Project website: https://heeseb.com
Summary:
This project has five objectives: (i)develop new academic programme on timber engineering for energy efficient buildings leading to an award of “Certificate in Timber Engineering for Energy Efficient Buildings” including associated laboratory; (ii)develop two new courses at JNEC: Gender, equity and diversity sensitive science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM); Building modelling and simulation, and HVAC; (iii)Enhance teaching and research capacity of JNEC; (iv)Improve Instructional Support Services at JNEC; (v) Internationalise UIBK. Through the above stated objectives and planned activities, this project will achieve the overall objective of APPEAR “to strengthen the scientific foundation and institutional capacities in higher education, research and management in the partner countries through academic partnerships with Austrian higher education institutions and master’s and PhD scholarships”.
This proposed project has five objectives: (i) develop new academic programme on timber engineering for energy efficient buildings leading to an award of “Certificate in Timber Engineering for Energy Efficient Buildings” including associated laboratory; (ii) develop two new courses at JNEC: Gender, equity and diversity sensitive science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM); Building modelling and simulation, and HVAC; (iii) enhance teaching and research capacity of JNEC; (iv)Improve Instructional Support Services at JNEC; (v) internationalise UIBK. Through the above stated objectives and planned activities, this project will achieve the overall objective of APPEAR “to strengthen the scientific foundation and institutional capacities in higher education, research and management in the partner countries through academic partnerships with Austrian higher education institutions and master’s and PhD scholarships”.
In the long run, the project will benefit hundreds of students who would pursue Bachelor’s degree and Diploma courses at JNEC. Additionally, this project will also benefit 100s of working engineers including few lab technicians by participating in refresher courses. Three short term trainings would also be conducted, (i)10 days Training of Trainers (ToT) on timber engineering at UBIK, (ii)8 days ToT on building simulation & HVAC at JNEC, and (iii)a 5 day ToT on gender, equity and diversity sensitive science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) teaching at JNEC. Subsequently, these ToTs would enhance the teaching capacity of a minimum of 50 teachers, who will impart knowledge and skills acquired to the students of JNEC. Thus, this project will have a multifaceted benefit. As JNEC is mandated by the government to provide engineering education to students, and refresher courses to the working engineers and technicians, this project will be sustainable beyond the project period.
This project also aims at providing students with better education and international experience through Diploma work/semester abroad for 2 students from UIBK at JNEC and vice versa. Additionally, four short term teaching assignment are planned from UIBK to JNEC, two from JNEC to UIBK. Both the incoming students and teachers will bring an international perspective to UIBK helping its students to prepare for a globalized working environment. The project members comprise of good representation of both genders, 33% female and 67% male staff with relevant subject fields from diverse regions from Eastern and Western part of Bhutan, and Europe.
Project goals:
Preparation and provision of course material, implementation of ToT courses, introduction to simulation software in the areas of energy-efficient buildings, timber construction, gender equality).